The consumer products and banking groups supported Toronto's rise, with leadership coming from Imasco, up C$0.70 to a new 52-week high of C$34.20, and
Toronto Dominion Bank
, which gained C$0.90 to C$62.70 in a third day of gains following the bank's announcement that it's thinking of selling a minority stake in its discount brokerage unit.

Imasco's fourth-quarter net from continuing operations rose to 46 Canadian cents a share, from 40 Canadian cents a share a year earlier. The company also said it plans to buy back up to 2.5% of its outstanding common shares.

Support for Thursday's rise also came from technology stocks, with
Northern Telecom
up C$1.70 to C$94.65.

The gold subindex gained 0.33% as the gold price on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange rose US$1.40 to US$284.80 an ounce.
Barrick Gold
edged up C$0.20 to C$28.05.

John McColl, portfolio strategist with Scotia Capital Markets, said he thinks the Toronto market is in a better position to move higher than New York.

Earnings for resource companies have generally been poor, but many of the companies look cheap based on non-earnings measures of valuation, Mr. McColl said. On the other hand, many non-resource stocks have had good earnings and are trading at discounts to their U.S. counterparts.

The transportation group fell 1.61% to lead the decliners. In the group,
Canadian National Railway
dropped C$1.70 to C$80.50.

Among other blue chips,
BCE
, Canada's largest telecommunications firm, gained C$0.15 to C$66.00, while
Laidlaw
, a transportation company, slipped C$0.15 to C$12.75 and conglomerate
Canadian Pacific
shed C$0.85 to C$29.10.